Sony Warming to the Idea of Portable 3D

Portable 3D isn't ready for primetime just yet, says Sony, but that may soon change.

Sony hasn't put 3D in the NGP, or PS Vita, or whatever it ends up being called, but that doesn't mean that it will never make a 3D handheld. Sony's Mick Hocking says that when it comes to 3D, the company's focus is still on home entertainment, but that portable technology is "rapidly improving."

Hocking, who heads up the 3D team for Sony Worldwide Studios, said that the range of portable 3D devices being exhibited at this year's CES show was proof that the technology was moving at a rather quick pace. He said that as these devices become more and more advanced, he could see that kinds of high-quality 3D effects that Sony wanted to create being feasible on a mobile device. However, he reiterated Sony's position on 3D gaming, saying that at the moment, the best place - in Sony's eyes at least - to play games in 3D was at home with a PS3.

It's interesting to see the subtly different messages coming from Sony. SCE Europe Boss Andrew House has downplayed mobile 3D in the past, whereas Hocking has championed 3D as a "new creative medium," and has praised the 3DS for "democratizing" the technology. Both men are toeing the company line about the best 3D being PS3 3D, but even through the neatly groomed PR spin, Hocking seems genuinely enthusiastic about the technology.